1. The Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a separation and recovery device for a liquid waste including a radionuclide, and a separation and recovery method using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various organic or inorganic detergents are used for decontamination or cleaning of contaminated equipment in nuclear facilities, and in this case, waste oil remaining in the equipment is discharged in a state of being mixed with the detergents during the cleaning. Also, with respect to a treatment of an organic-inorganic mixed liquid waste including a portion of an inorganic liquid waste as well as a liquid waste, such as the waste detergent including waste oil, a method was disclosed in Korean Patent Nos. 10-0928652 and 10-0675941, in which contaminants in the liquid waste are precipitated using a precipitant, the contaminants are removed by a separation method, such as centrifugation or a filtration device, and an organic liquid and an inorganic liquid are then separated by a typical vacuum distillation method.
In addition, a method of combustion of an organic liquid and an inorganic liquid was disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2005-0109290.
In the case that the organic-inorganic mixed liquid waste is treated by the typical method as described above, sufficient precipitation reaction efficiency may be obtained only in the case in which an excessive amount of chemicals, such as a precipitant, is introduced into the entire organic-inorganic mixed liquid waste. Since more than a certain amount of the precipitant may be mixed in the organic-inorganic mixed liquid waste remaining after the removal of the precipitant, the complete separation of an organic component and an inorganic component may not be facilitated. Also, since the excessive amount of the used precipitant may be included in each or any one of the organic component and the inorganic component even after the organic component and the inorganic component have been separated, the separated components may not be recycled or may not be efficiently processed and disposed.
A large amount of a beta radionuclide, such as tritium (H-3) or radiocarbon (C-14), is dissolved in the waste detergent including waste oil that is generated in nuclear facilities. In this case, the tritium in the form of tritiated water (3H2O) and the radiocarbon in the form of 14CO2, 14CH4, and 14C2H6 are dissolved in the mixed liquid waste, and even in the case in which a typical distillation/condensation process is performed, a portion of the tritium and the radiocarbon may be released to the outside with exhaust gas. Therefore, a separate collection device for preventing this may be installed or the exhaust gas may be processed by providing the exhaust gas to a separate exhaust gas treatment system.
Accordingly, during research into a process for effectively treating the waste detergent having a large amount of a beta radionuclide, such as tritium (H-3) or radiocarbon (C-14), dissolved therein as well as separating waste oil and detergent from the waste detergent including waste oil that is generated during the decontamination or disassembling of equipment in nuclear facilities, the present inventors developed a separation device that may effectively separate the waste detergent and simultaneously, may prevent the release of the tritium and the radiocarbon to the outside, thereby leading to completion of the present invention.